Salvini caught in a trap: the Interior Ministry’s withdrawal out of fear. Vannacci matches the League. Giorgetti: “Without Zaia, it’s all over”

Rome. Now that the League stands to gain the Ministry of the Interior, it is holding on tight, even though it risks losing out. If Salvini does not forcefully demand that Meloni swap places with Piantedosi, it is because he is afraid of giving up the party leadership. A decisive dinner is taking place between Giorgetti, Durigon and Salvini, whilst at a party meeting on Friday, it was Giorgetti who explained: “We need Zaia, otherwise it’s all over…”. Salvini is offering Fedriga the role of deputy secretary – a position he had previously offered to Zaia – and is proposing to Zaia that he one day become President of the Senate. This is an attempt to break up the governors’ alliance, but it is Salvini who appears to be falling apart. There is talk of three other MPs from the south ready to leave, and FN, in the SWG poll, is now level with the League at 5.3 per cent. Tomorrow’s Federal Council meeting has been suspended. Vannacci is Salvini’s true Brutus.

 Why, despite calls from Giorgetti and Romeo for “Salvini to return to the Interior Ministry, now”, is Salvini keeping quiet? He has realised that this is a ploy to strip him of his party and he refuses to accept it. He fears a possible rejection from Meloni, but the real reason is that he sees this demand as the end of his leadership. Zaia has his price; he continues to demand real powers, and Fedriga is siding with Zaia. In Salvini’s plan, Zaia is to be confined to playing the role of Vannacci, bringing in votes as the lead candidate in the general election, and receiving the promise of the Senate presidency as a reward. Zaia is still saying “No”. A banner appeared yesterday at the Arena Civica in Milan: “Thank you, Matteo. But … Zaia as secretary now”. Beyond the north, the south is bleeding. A group of MPs loyal to Durigon is now being surrounded by Zaia’s supporters. They are contemplating departure, in part because they perceive no compelling reason to remain in a League where they risk being treated as outcasts. This sense of unease is shared by Giorgia Latini, Simona Loizzo and Giovanna Miele. The negotiations are now in the hands of Giorgetti and Durigon, and both are trying to persuade Salvini to cede some of his authority. Within the party, Vannacci is being criticised for his stance towards Salvini, whilst Salvini, in turn, is criticising Giorgetti for not helping him. He had requested 300 million in funding for road haulage, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) replied that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) was in a position to find the funds. In the end, the MIT did find the funds within the budget, but for Salvini this is proof that he stands alone. Critics also point to Siri, who has publicly attacked regional governors, and to his followers. Professor Lorenzo Gasperini, Vannacci’s ideologue, was a League member who had been nurtured and pampered, but who eventually left the party in protest against, as he put it, “the Zaia-Molinari drift”. Alessia Morani of the PD has reposted an old message by Vannacci’s new ideologue against Maria Elena Boschi: “At last, shovelling peas whilst earning institutional recognition will no longer be the privilege of ministers and undersecretaries.” Within the League, there is now an air of the end, of horse-trading and of farewells. This farewell has been in the works for some time, and the party is also bidding adieu to Matteo Pandini, the leader’s long-standing spokesperson, who is moving to ENAV. They are setting the same trap for Salvini that the Russians set for Napoleon: a Lega as deserted as Moscow, but under the sun, reminding him of Papeete. Summer is Salvini’s winter.

Carmelo Caruso